It's Kingdom Hearts, Charlie Brown!
by Watanuki-kun
Summary: Charlie Brown's life is turned upside down when his town is swallowed up by a race of dark monsters called the heartless. Chosen by the Keyblade, Charlie Brown is now on a quest to save the worlds, and his friends. Major Crossover!
1. Prologue

**Authors notes**:

**Watanuki-Kun**: Hello everyone. Watanuki-Kun's here with a brand new story me and my good pal Tiger have being working for the last year. This fanfic is another one of these Kingdom Hearts fanfics mega crossovers that you're probably not worth your time but I assure this fanfic will be nothing alike. I and Tiger worked day and night in order to work to perfect this fanfic in every way possible. So now lay back and enjoy the prologue chapter and the first chapter as well.

**Tiger Lover 16**: Indeed, but let me have my say first. well folks it's taken us more than a few months, but it was worth it to publish this now. Anyone who's played the game Kingdom Hearts might experience a little head scratching at the start of this chapter, but after a few paragraphs it'll make more sense. You'll get more scenes like the game in the next few chapters but, like Watanuki-Kun here said, it's going to be more original and a bit of a wider scope, at least in the amount of series involved. Hopefully you'll enjoy this story as much as we're enjoying planning and writing it. Ok, I've said enough, on with the show!

* * *

**It's Kingdom Hearts, Charlie Brown!**

**Prologue**

In this universe there are many worlds. Worlds home to humans, anthropomorphic animals, wizards, heroes and all sorts of weird beings. And there are two realms that divide the universe, The Realm of Light, and The Realm of Darkness. For untold generations these realms have been separated, and light and darkness had been kept at balance. But things quickly change.

Our story takes place mainly in the Realm of Light. Here is where most worlds reside, and these worlds are watched over by a group of guardians. The Inner Circle, a group consisting of representatives from many worlds, the most powerful and wisest beings of their respective home worlds. Together, The Inner Circle watched over the Realm of Light, overcoming threats that no single hero or even God could conquer alone.

Despite this, the Inner Circle was rarely if ever gathered in its entirety. So it was a rare occasion that tonight, they were all informed to do just that.

The story being deep in the vacuum of space, the area between worlds. Overlooking a swirling blue vortex, we find a clear crystal platform. The meeting place for the Inner Circle. Though currently, only one was present.

Rachel Alucard, current head of the Alucard Vampire Clan, sat on one of her servants, Nago the cat, who had transmogrified himself into a comfortable arm chair. Her feet were rested on Gii the bat, a plump red creature and her magical familiar, who had no qualms with it's current position. In her right hand Rachel held out a cup, as her elderly butler, fellow vampire Vaklenhayn, poured some freshly brewed tea into it. Rachel took a sip of the tea, her eyes wandering across the otherwise empty platform. She was quickly annoyed by the lack of company.

"They're late" Rachel said plainly "Don't they know it's rude to keep your guest waiting? I have more important matters to attend to"

"Milady, please be patient. The envelope said to arrive tonight at 00:00 precisely. They'll be here just as instructed" Vaklenhayn tried to reassure her.

"I know how to read Vaklenhayn. I just can't wait any longer for their arrival. I have a busy schedule to attend to and I cannot simply wait here for rodents who won't show themselves" Rachel seethed.

"If you have plans to uphold to then please leave. Nobody is holding you hostage, dearest Rachel" The clan leader turned to see the speaker, an old green tortoise walking towards her, using a mystical staff to support himself like a cane.

Rachel smiled "Oogway. What a pleasant surprise. What took you so long? Was crawling all the way here tiring for an old turtle like you?"

"Perhaps I'm old, but these ancient bones can still move youngling" Oogway laughed at himself. Noticing she wasn't laughing along he asked "You look upset my dear. What could be so frustrating?"

"Haven't you noticed? The darkness… it's moving" Rachel place the cup on the table, looking into the vacuum of space.

"Oh yes, the darkness. No matter what we do it'll always come back. One cannot exist without the other. Trying to change nature's treasures is folly" Oogway said, sitting down in a chair next to Rachel's. Vaklenhayn offered him a cup of tea, but Oogway politely declined it. With a respectful vow the vampire butler slipped away.

"Indeed. It'd be pretty immature trying to change this. We should let someone with more experience deal with this kind of problem"

"Like who? It's not like you can find a hero on a silver platter" Spoke a third voice. Rachel and Oogway looked around for the speaker, but there was no need as he appeared before them in a burst of yellow smoke. He was a man with black hair with a streak of white through it, dressed in unusual clothes that one would associate with a wizard: An orange cape and neckpiece, blue robes, an orange sash and black leggings that also covered his feet in place of shoes. This man was Doctor Strange, the Sorcerer Supreme.

"Ever heard of knocking? You're a Houdini wannabe, always popping in like a prima donna. You simply can't enter a room without a fireworks display, can you? Aw, typical" Rachel insulted the sorcerer.

"I see your manners are as stunning as ever, Rachel. Still hasn't improved since our paths last crossed" Doctor Strange barked back.

"And I can see you haven't changed that ridicules attrite you're wearing. Still playing make believes?" Rachel mocked Strange's unusual orange garb.

"Still playing like a spoiled princess? When will you stop that disgraceful attitude of yours?" Doctor Strange said, shaking his head disapprovingly.

"We didn't come here to insult one another," Oogway interrupted their fight. "We can all do that later. Right now we must discuss the dire matter at hand"

"That's right. The darkness is approaching" An amphibious creature wearing blue pants and a long purple top hat appeared standing on top of Oogway's shell. The elderly turtle looked up at the creature with a small smile

"Polokus, my friend. You're still dreaming aren't you?"Oogway asked concerned.

"I'm afraid so. My masks are yet to be gathered" Polokus said to everyone. It became obvious by looking at him that the Bubble Dreamer was only here in an astral form.

"Poor Polokus. I feel so terrible for you," said a timid voice. Everyone turned to see a female echidna dressed in ancient garments enter the platform, accompanied by a cute blue creature known as a chao "I wish there was something we could do"

"Tikal, as much as I admire your empathy I'm not worried about my condition," Polokus smiled. "Creating the Glade of Dreams was the purpose of my existence. I knew that by finishing my work I'd have to conceal my powers, but I'm not worried. One day I'll be needed again, and on that day I will be awakened. But in the meantime, I can send my spiritual form here to help all of you"

"My, my, what a courageous sacrifice you had to pay. All that for the sake of those creatures you created? I can't decide if you're enjoying playing this martyr act or you do care about those inhabitants of your world. Either way you're the most fascinating organism I have ever met" Rachel complimented.

"Did I just hear Alucard complimenting?" Doctor Strange was startled. "Never in my wildest dreams had I excepted this cheeky child to flatter anyone"

Rachel, furious with his use of the word child summoned a lightning bolt to electrocute him. The other wise beings covered their eyes as the sorcerer's screams echoed. By the time the screaming stopped and they all thought it was safe to look Doctor Strange was on the floor, covered in black burns with smoke rising off of him.

"Ahem. I see you already started without us" A floating brown mask with several colourful feathers forming his hair, Aku-Aku appeared. Behind him the angelic Digimon Ophanimon stood tall and proud. And seconds later they were greeted by another figure, the leader of the Inner Circle and the most powerful being in the Realm of Light. Arceus, the original one.

"I trust there will be no need for further violence" Arceus began, Rachel folded her arms, glancing down at the crispy Doctor Strange and gave a shrug.

"Whatever" Was her reply.

"Now then, for the reason I have summoned you all here. We must-" Arceus began before being cut off by Tikal.

"Wait a minute. Where is the Great Pumpkin? Isn't he with you?" Tikal asked in wonder.

"Yes, now that you mention it where is that jolly good fellow?" Oogway asked.

"About that…" Ophanimon tried to explain, but there was no need. The Great Pumpkin rolled onto the edge of the platform, a small yellow bird running along the top of the enchanted vegetable.

"! ##^&$ ^*^" shouted the bird as the enormous living pumpkin rolled at uncontrollable speeds towards the gathered entities. Fortunately most of them were able to sidestep out of the way, but Doctor Strange, only just through recovering from Rachel's lightning strike was struck dead on, sending the Sorcerer Supreme flying into what seemed to be an invisible wall at the other end of the platform.

"Now that was entertaining," Rachel laughed. "Oh Great Pumpkin, you never cease to amaze me with your clumsiness"

"I'm sorry Strange. I shouldn't have eaten those Candy bars the children gave to me. My doctor said my cholesterol is high, and it's affecting my balance" The Great Pumpkin apologized as Tikal and Oogway dragged the unconscious wizard back to the centre of the platform

"Is he alive?" Ophanimon examined the body of Doctor Strange.

"He'll be fine. Right now, there are much more important matters to discuss" Everyone's attentions turned to Aku Aku as he spoke, and then to Arceus.

"Then why did you call us here, Arceus? What is so urgent that you had to summon the entire Inner Circle?" Polokus inquired.

"As all of you have noticed by now, the darkness is growing. Something is tampering with the forces of nature. I do not know who or what is the cause of this, but I think the time has come my brothers and sisters. A new master must be chosen to wield the key once again" Arceus's words echoed.

...

"Truly you must be joking. Didn't we all learn from our previous attempt that we should not intervene with such things?" Oogway scolded him.

"Oogway's right. Choosing a new master would be disastrous. I mean, the latest master was brave and confident and look how that turned out in the end" Aku-Aku objected.

"Maybe the new master will be different. Maybe he's the key" Tikal suggested. She seemed the only one to share such sentiments.

"Don't be a fool Tikal. Choosing a new master is the least of our concern. We shouldn't even talk about this!" Ophanimon said coldly. And all at once the other members of the Inner Circle broke out in an argument, with only Arceus and Rachel remaining silent. While Arceus merely shook his head at the almost childish bickering, Rachel scoffed loudly, gaining everyone's attention.

"Frightened aren't we? Just the mention of the keyblade master and you all start barking like a bunch of dogs. True, the last master became the threat we all fear is the cause of the sudden change in the universal balance, but that doesn't mean we didn't learn anything from our failure. Now more than ever we will be able to choose a master more carefully, more wisely. Don't let fear control you. You're worse than toddlers" Rachel lectured the group.

Silence… then-

"Then who shall we vote for? Who in the worlds is worthy of wielding such incredible power?" The Great Pumpkin asked.

"Someone who's not afraid of carrying this heavy burden alone. It has to be someone who has faced these dangers before" Arceus replied.

"Like Sonic!" Tikal rejoiced. She clapped her hands and a hologram of a blue hedgehog appeared in the centre of the platform "He can do everything. I'm sure he's perfect for this job"

"The Hedgehog? You want him to do it? Don't be silly Tikal. He has too many commitments. Another one will be too much for him," Polokus refused.

"Why not? He's brave and strong and he's beaten countless monsters and villains! If he can't do it, then who else?" Tikal tried to reason. And she did seem to garner some support.

"I say we should let him do it. He has a strong heart," Ophanimon agreed.

"And he's funny too. Don't forget that," Oogway laughed.

"And he's only going to involve himself in all this anyway when he figures out what's happening" The Great Pumpkin added.

"Terrific. So now we're letting animals wiled the keyblade? Who's next? A pebble?" Rachel rudely voiced her refusal. After some more thought among the members of the circle, Arceus came up with another alternative.

"Then how about Pikachu?" Arceus said. The image of Sonic disappeared, and in it's place a hologram of a small yellow mouse creature with brown stripes and chubby red cheeks appeared.

"He's an endangered species. You can't possible think of sending him into battle," Tikal denied.

"I think he'll be perfect. He's strong and even without the keyblade he can use his cheeks to unleash lightning bolts," The Great Pumpkin said enthusiastically.

"More like adorable. You want that little critter to do what exactly? To defeat the Heartless using his chubbiness? A chubby animal is not a hero," Said Doctor Strange, who had finally come back to his senses.

"Great, he's back," Rachel sighed in disappointed. "It was so quiet without him"

"None of these candidates are appropriate for this job," Doctor Strange ignored her. "How about someone from my world? Like Spider-Man?" Pikachu's hologram vanished, and the image of a man dressed in a full body red and blue suit with black webbing along the red parts appeared.

"Spider-who?" Tikal lost him.

"I forget you've never been to my world. He's a teenager who was bitten by radioactive spider, which granted him all the powers of a spider" He explained.

"A teenager isn't suitable for this job," Ophanimon rejected. "He has a good heart and was taught by a very special man but he's still a child. This job requires someone older. An expert"

"Then it should be Captain America" Doctor Strange suggested, and an image of a man dressed in an odd blue outfit with an American flag motif appeared before the group "Of all the heroes in my world, none are more noble, confident and skilled than the Captain. He is a perfect choice"

"But he is also tied down to many commitments" Arceus explained "Leader of the Avengers, public face of super heroics in his world, battling countless super villains. He would not abandon all of these duties for one task, no matter how vital it may be to protecting the universe"

Doctor Strange sighed, waving his hand to dismiss Captain America's hologram.

"This will take hours…" Rachel complained, taking her cup and sipping from it.

"How about someone from my world? Like Crash" Aku Aku eagerly suggested, summoning forth the hologram of an orange bandicoot wearing blue shorts.

...

Everyone looked at him with wide eyed expression, the response was unanimous: "nah"

"Why not? What's wrong with Crash?" Aku-Aku asked, raising his eyebrow.

"You really want me to explain this?" Rachel said, giving Aku Aku a funny look.

"I think his face says it all" Doctor Strange added.

"Crash is powerful but he lacks the intelligence needed of the keybearer, I'm afraid," Oogway said gently.

"What happened to this poor creature? Why is his face so twisted?" Tikal cried in anger. Aku Aku stared nervously at her.

"Long story…"

"I have a suggestion. Kind of stupid, but hear me out" The Great Pumpkin spoke up.

"Who?" Everyone asked in unison.

"Well... just give me a second" The Great Pumpkin said. Two long tendrils grew out from behind the Pumpkin's back and he clapped them together. Down below the platform, visible through the clear floors, several large apparitions appeared throughout the blue vortex. The images of the many worlds within the Realm of Light. The Great Pumpkin selected a world that looked like a pleasant little American town, the hologram of which also appeared on top of the platform. The other members of the Inner Circle watched curiously as the Great Pumpkin began sensing around the world for his suggested candidate.

"Ah, found him" The Great Pumpkin said cheerfully, the image of the world sunk back below the platform, and before the Inner Circle appeared another hologram. A young boy, thirteen at the most, dressed in a yellow shirt with a black zigzag pattern and black shorts, appearing bald apart from a tuft of hair on his forehead.

"This is Charlie Brown, a thirteen year old boy from my world" The Great Pumpkin said, turning eagerly to his colleagues. The other members of the Inner Circle just stared blankly at the boy's hologram. Rachel was the first to make her opinion known.

"You're right, that is a stupid suggestion" The blond vampire said with her usual snobbery.

"A child, really?" Ophanimon said, ignoring what Rachel had said and looking sternly at the living pumpkin "Haven't I already covered my disapproval of underage heroes"

"I must admit, I'm not seeing what you're getting at here" Tikal said in a softer voice. The Great Pumpkin's carved lips formed into a nervous smile as he tried to explain.

"Well, like I said, this is kind of a silly idea, but past experience has no doubt taught us that we need someone pure of heart to wield the key. And my personal experience as a Halloween icon, at least in some worlds, has taught me that children are the most innocent and pure of all people. So, I thought, why not take a chance with one" The Great Pumpkin said, shrugging his tendrils. Oogway, Tikal and Polokus seemed slightly receptive of this idea. Everyone else, still not convinced.

"Children can also be selfish and reckless" Aku Aku said seriously.

"And annoying, loud, filthy, impatient, lazy, stupid, nosy-" Rachel listed off until Doctor Strange quietly used his magic to summon a gag over her mouth.

"I must agree, if the belief that children are more pure hearted than older people, then I'm afraid you really don't have a good argument here" Arceus informed the Great Pumpkin, who to the Alpha Pokémon's surprise just gave him a wide grin.

"Well then good thing that's not the only reason I suggested him" The Great Pumpkin said, gaining the curiosity of all but Rachel, still struggling to remove the gag over her mouth "You all know that I travel between many worlds, I've seen many, many people, mainly children due to my occupation. And out of all the people I've secretly observed in the lead up to Halloween, never have I met anyone with a heart more sincere and pure than his. If he waited in his local pumpkin patch more often with his friend Linus, I'd have no choice but to visit them. He may be young, but there's something about him that... well, why don't you look into his heart and see for yourselves?"

As Rachel finally had Vaklenhayn pull the accursed gag off of her, the other members of the Inner Circle turned to Charlie Brown's hologram. Though neither of them were quite in agreement with the Great Pumpkin's views, they were all willing to go along with his request. They focused their eyes on the hologram, their eyes glowed blue as they began sensing for the boy's true self and looked into his heart. When Rachel realized what they were all doing she joined in.

The Great Pumpkin watched on with a certain smile as the other near-divine beings looked into Charlie Brown's heart. For a moment they all just stood still with their eyes glowing, to the unaware they might have looked like they were having a seizure. Then suddenly they all gasped, the blue glow vanishing shortly after from their eyes as they all began to register what they had just experienced. The Great Pumpkin chuckled joyously.

"So, get it now?" The Pumpkin asked.

"This boy... rarely have I ever seen something like this..." Polokus said, a far away expression on his face.

"This boy's heart is full of light, with hardly any darkness. Only the Princesses of Heart themselves could have a more pure heart than his" Ophanimon spoke, looking over the holographic teenager with great curiosity.

"The boy certainly has potential, that much is certain" Doctor Strange summarised what everyone was thinking.

"Exactly. This is what I'm trying to say. Charlie Brown has exactly the type of heart that is required of a keyblade master, he is a good person who would never abandon his morals. He may be young, but if nothing else he's a safe bet. We needn't fear him turning to the darkness" The Great Pumpkin explained with childlike enthusiasm.

"Yeah, but I've also seen his memories. And honestly, you want THAT kid to fight our enemies?!" Rachel began one of her rants "He may be the closest to a pure heart we could get, but the kid is a failure. A loser. A geek. He can't so much as fly a kite, win a baseball game or anything. How's a kid this pathetic supposed to be a hero?"

The Great Pumpkin just smiled at her.

"Maybe he's not strong or brave or a winner, but he has one special quality that makes up for all that: He never gives up" This comment got the others attention "No matter how badly he fails or how constantly he messes up, Charlie Brown always gets up and tries again. Even with all the sadness he feels from his failures, he remains optimistic and persistently tries to succeed. That gives him plenty of opportunity to grow, under the right circumstances he could flourish as the keybearer, grow into the role, you know. Not every hero starts out as such, just look at Mario. How many people would have chosen a plumber to go out and fight an entire evil army and their monstrous leader?"

The rest of the group nodded their heads and murmured in agreement.

"He has a very good point actually" Aku Aku said to Ophanimon.

"The quality of a warrior is not determined by his strength or achievements; it is gained through their conviction. And young Charlie has that in spades" Oogway said kindly.

"I think Charlie could do very well as a keyblade master" Tikal said nicely.

"What do you think Arceus?" Doctor Strange asked the deity. Arceus hummed softly, staring thoughtfully at Charlie brown's hologram. All eyes were on him as he began to speak.

"The Powerpuff girls are in kindergarten, and they have faced the most dastardly of threats" Arceus spoke, everyone raised their eyebrows "Ben Tennyson was a ten year old boy, and he has saved the universe on more than one occasion. Many of the greatest heroes in the universe have been children younger than Charlie Brown, and many of them had backgrounds no more glorious than him. I believe with a little help, he could be just the hero we need"

"So you agree we should give him the keyblade?" The Great Pumpkin sang.

"No. I suggest that before we take the risk of bestowing it upon him, he must be tested. The boy must undergo an awakening" Arceus replied. There was a lot of surprisingly excited muttering among the Inner Circle.

"We haven't done an awakening for someone in quite some time, this should be fun" Polokus said eagerly.

"Indeed, this'll prove he can do it. Just you watch, he'll fly through it" The Great Pumpkin cheered.

"Oh for crying out loud!" Rachel's harsh tone of voice startled the majority of the group, and they all turned to listen to her "I understand your reasoning Arceus, but come on. Open your eyes. The universe is in grave danger, the darkness is approaching, and I don't think you've quite grasped the concept that worlds are in danger of being swallowed up by it. The fate of all that exists in the Realm of Light depends on the decisions we make here and now. And with so much at stake, are you really willing to risk it all with such a gamble? Pardon my French but, HAVE YOU ALL LOST YOUR MINDS?"

The meeker members of the Circle recoiled fearfully of the girls rage, but her words served not to dissuade them.

"We are perfectly aware of what is at stake" Ophanimon began sternly "I understand you completely; I myself do not believe this is the best course of action. But what is? We are not perfect, not every decision we make can be right, past events have proven that. We cannot be sure what is the exact right thing to do in this situation; we must simply follow what we believe in. Sometimes one must take chances, and though Charlie Brown is not the ideal hero, he is the best decision we can come to. We cannot risk giving the key to anyone who may fall down the wrong path again, and if he should perish it would be a tragedy, but we can at least try again. Simply put, I believe we should go for it"

Rachel opened her mouth to argue some more, until Doctor Strange leaned in and whispered to her "Besides, do you really want to spent the next twelve hours choosing another candidate?"

Rachel shuddered at the thought "For once you might have a point" She said as Strange returned to his previous position.

"Then we are in agreement?" Arceus made sure to clarify. The majority of his allies shouted "Aye!" While Rachel merely muttered an uninterested "Whatever".

"Then it is settled, Charlie Brown shall be tested for worthiness to wield the keyblade" Aku Aku spoke. While everyone began discussing the plans for Charlie Brown's "Awakening" Rachel just tilted her head and looked down through the translucent floors. Her eyes eventually drifted to Charlie Brown's world within the cosmos, and they widened as she sensed something most intriguing.

"Hold the phone!" Rachel suddenly declared. Everyone quieted down and stared at her uncertainly "I've just found something that you all need to see"

Everyone's curiosity grew as Rachel summoned a second illusion beside Charlie Brown's. The new hologram showed a young girl, about the same age as Charlie, with black hair and a blue dress. The girl had a certain look about her that suggested she was good at the core, but also rather mean and crabby.

"Another child?" Ophanimon was confused.

"Oh, I've seen this one before" The Great Pumpkin said, looking a little disturbed "She's no good. She's a spiteful little girl, the sister to Linus, the boy who's always waiting for me in the pumpkin patch, I really need to remember to visit it sometime. And let me tell you, she's mean. She has plenty of her good qualities, but overall she's almost a brat. Certainly doesn't live up to her brothers standards of nice"

"Why did you want to show us this girl?" Tikal asked cautiously. Rachel's face darkened.

"Because this girl is predestined to inherit a keyblade of her own"

Her words shocked the Inner Circle members to the very core. For a moment no one spoke, everyone looked worried.

"You... you must be joking" Doctor Strange gasped. Rachel shook her head.

"Even I would not jest about something like this" Rachel said seriously. Worried murmurs filled the platform.

"How could this happen? All the keyblade masters are either dead, lost to the darkness, or who knows what. And we've never marked her, how could she have been chosen?" Aku Aku wondered.

"Perhaps before they were lost one of the keyblade masters performed the inheritance ceremony with her" Arceus said reasonably "It is possible, we didn't keep track of their every single movement. Or perhaps the keyblade of a long lost master finally decided to seek out a new master on it's own. I cannot say for certain. But the fact that such a thing could happen without our knowledge is quite worrying..."

"It is fortunate you sensed her presence Miss Alucard" Tikal said politely to Rachel.

"Ok, first, please don't call me that. Not that I don't appreciate being referred to respectfully, but here we are all equals, you're allowed to call me by my first name. And yeah, it certainly is" Rachel replied.

"So... what must we do about this?" Polokus asked.

Silence...

"Well, I suppose it's obvious" Rachel began, everyone listened curiously "If this girl has been marked by a keyblade, then we should just give it to her now, rather than waste the only one we have to spare on that other blockhead"

"What? Oh no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Bad idea" The Great Pumpkin was suddenly worried "You don't know this girl Rachel, she's as crabby as they come and more interested in helping herself than others. Not evil by a long shot of course, but waaay more susceptible to the darkness than Charlie Brown"

"Hmm... I think I have to agree, she doesn't sound like the sort of person I'd want holding the keyblade. Not after last time" Ophanimon said grimly. Rachel scoffed.

"Well do you think we have a choice on the matter?" Rachel asked irritably "This Lucy has been pre-selected, and we have not the power to undo that. One way or another she's going to inherit it someday, and we can't do anything about it. Wouldn't you rather she obtain and use it under our strict guidance and supervision?"

"She is right, it doesn't seem like we have any other choice" Tikal said gently. Doctor Strange shook his head.

"That doesn't mean she is the right candidate, especially when considering the threat we are about to face. If what the Great Pumpkin says is true, this girl would more than likely end up joining the forces of darkness. And a repeat of events past is the last thing we need right now" Strange spoke grimly.

"Perhaps we should not be so quick to judge" Oogway said quickly before Rachel could begin arguing with the sorcerer "If we are only going on words and what the Great Pumpkin has seen of her, that is not enough to determine young Lucy's character. Perhaps we should look into her heart and decide then if she is worthy"

The other members nodded their heads, agreeing that was the best course of action. Everyone but the Great Pumpkin, who was sure enough of what this girl was at heart, turned to the image of Lucy and their eyes began to glow. After a short minute of examining the depths of Lucy's heart their eyes returned to normal, and they all looked even more thoughtful.

"Well, she's not... so bad" Aku Aku tried to sound fair.

"Indeed, she does possess that core of innocence that one would expect from someone so young" Ophanimon said, but he was frowning "However, I must agree with the Great Pumpkin. She is not the right candidate for this mission, nor is she a person I would want to wield a keyblade"

"So she has a few anger management issues, big deal. We could have gotten a lot worse, just let her have it" Rachel said without the slightest hint of hesitation.

"Her actions go beyond mere anger issues Rachel. Punching her friends, scamming people with unlicensed psychiatry, and that horrible football gag that could well break Charlie Brown's neck" Polokus shook his head wistfully "I just don't think we can rely on her to uphold the responsibility of being the keyblade master"

The Great Pumpkin sighed in relief, glad to see everyone was starting to agree with him "You all see what I mean then? For all her good points Lucy simply isn't the right candidate. We should just go with Charlie Brown" The small yellow bird nesting on top of him tweeted in agreement.

"I quite agree, Charlie is the better candidate" Oogway spoke up. Most of the Inner Circle nodded and voiced agreement, but Rachel looked furious.

"Haven't you all been listening to a thing I've said?! We don't have a choice on the matter. Even if we don't give her the keyblade now she will someday inherit it, and if we're not careful she might slip out of our reach and go on to follow the darkness anyway. It's a lot better to give it to her now and keep her under our wing, rather than waste the only keyblade we have to spare on a loser bald kid. That way at least we'll have a keyblade to spare incase Lucy fails" Rachel explained.

"Sadly, that is true" Doctor Strange sighed.

"But what if she does fall to the darkness despite our influence?" Aku Aku worried. Everyone started to worry and panic amongst themselves as they all tried to reason whether they should give Lucy access to her keyblade now, or give one to Charlie Brown as a safe bet. Ophanimon turned to Arceus, the only one who had not said a word since looking into Lucy's heart. Noticing the thoughtful expression on his face, Ophanimon addressed the Original One.

"So what do you think Arceus?" The angelic digimon asked. The chattering died away again as everyone turned to Arceus. Though they were all equal here, Arceus was the one they all looked up to and who's opinions they most respected and followed. As the literal God, they held all of his opinions with high regard.

Arceus snapped out of his thoughts and looked down on his allies. He sighed and said "I admit, I am conflicted aswell" Everyone exchanged nervous glances at that. If Arceus could not decide this matter for them, what would they do? He spoke again "I agree that Lucy is rash and undisciplined, but that is not to say she can't be trusted. She is after all a good person. But Charlie Brown is exactly the sort of candidate I believe is best suited for the task. And Rachel is right, we don't have much of a choice. Lucy will inherit a keyblade someday, it might be tomorrow, it might be seventy or eighty years from now, but we cannot risk it. We could always give it to them both, but two keyblade masters at once would be difficult to control. I do not wish to shove this burden upon two children, one is enough. I must be honest my friends, even I do not know what to do about this"

The other members of the Inner Circle stared at the floor, all looking lost. Oogway raised his head slowly and whispered "But what do you think?"

Arceus stared distantly at the swirling vortex below them all, with his facial structure and subsequent inability to make facial expressions it was hard to tell what he was thinking. Slowly he lifted his head to the others "I think we should test both of them"

"Both of them?" Polokus asked.

"Yes, we'll put both of them through the Awakening. If Charlie Brown proves more worthy in the situation, we'll give the keyblade to him. If he fails to impress or Lucy proves superior to him, we'll let her inherit the keyblade, and mark Charlie Brown as a second choice in the event that she fails to defeat the heartless. It is the only choice I believe is reasonable" Arceus explained to them.

"I think it sounds perfectly reasonable" Tikal agreed full heartedly.

"Yes, this sounds like a good idea" The Great Pumpkin moved his body in a way that suggested nodding.

"Do we all agree to put both Charlie Brown and Lucy to the test first?" Doctor Strange asked, specifically referring to Rachel. The vampire girl sighed.

"I suppose so. But I still say Lucy's the one we need to give it to" Rachel muttered. And then choicely added "Besides, we really need more lady heroes saving the universe, there are enough boy heroes about"

"Is that the reason you were so insistent we pick her?" Aku Aku asked irritably, Rachel did not reply to him.

Arceus looked at the two holograms that showed Charlie Brown and Lucy. He dismissed the images at last and informed everyone to stand in a perfect circle.

"Alright then, we must waste no time in acting. Tonight, as they sleep, Charlie Brown and Lucy shall dream not of baseball and piano players, but instead they shall experience the Awakening process. Is everyone ready?" Arceus asked.

"Ready" Was the unanimous reply. Arceus nodded at them and raised his head to the dark skies. Suddenly he began to sing, not in any language known to mankind. His voice sounded soothing and mystic, his words impossible to describe. The other members of the Inner Circle began to sing along with Arceus, their combined song forming a strange melody that filled the platform. From the far side of said platform, Vaklenhayn, Tikal's chao and The Great Pumpkin's bird watched on in wonder as their song caused the ground around them to glow in a brilliant circle. A light of seven colours began to envelope them, and before the three non-members of the Circle knew what was happening it had began.


	2. Chapter 1 Awaken, Charlie Brown

**Chapter 1, Awaken, Charlie Brown**

**Authors Notes:**

**Tiger Lover 16: Hey folks. Here we are, back with the first chapter (Not counting the prologue). So... yeah, this took a lot longer than intended. My fault, the majority of this chapter was written already, as the original story challenge a year ago, but the next scene after that was... well, I don't know how to explain it, it was just a pain to write. I'm glad I got it done though. It could have been better, but this chapter's long overdue anyway, and I didn't know what else to do so, how it satisfies. I think it was a good chapter. The real plot starts next chapter though. The Awakening scene here is pretty similar to the game, so sorry if that annoys anyone, but hey, I think it's enjoyable. Hopefully the next chapter will be up a little bit quicker. Well, thanks for your patience. They're all yours Watanuki.**

**Watanuki-Kun: So yeah, finally that dreadful chapter is done and we're ready to continue with the fanfiic. Hopefully the new chapter will be release somwehere this mounth or the next one, so please be patient. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and will leave a comment below. Now, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: We do not own Peanuts, Marvel, Pokemon or any other series or characters that is meantion in this story. It was written for the readers enjoyment only and has no other purpose.**

* * *

Since the dawn of time, through untold generations, man has asked itself one question over and over again. Are we alone? Are there other worlds out there, waiting to be discovered? And if there are other worlds, why are they all separated, and what would it be like to set foot on one of them. Few knew the answer, and they wouldn't tell you. But for one young lad, the eternal mystery would soon be solved. And the revelation would set him off on a journey to fulfil his destiny.

And who was that boy you ask? He was Charlie Brown, a fourteen year old boy with hair so short and blond it made him look bald. He always wore a yellow shirt with a black zigzag pattern and black shorts, and also wore sandals. A necessity, when living in a country composed of tropical islands.

But at this point in time, he wasn't standing on the beach of an island. He was falling. Falling through the water, seemingly unconscious. He sank deeper and deeper, his body floating gracefully as he did so.

"I've been having... these weird thoughts lately..." Charlie Brown's voice echoed, and as proof that he hadn't drowned his eyes began to slowly creep open.

"Like... is any of this real... or not?"

Charlie Brown's eyes finally opened fully. He was no longer in the water, instead he had somehow found himself standing on the beach near his home town. There was a cliff with a small waterfall flowing out of the side, behind which was the entrance to a mysterious cave, a wooden shed and a bridge leading to a small island with trees that bore star shaped fruits.

Charlie Brown examined his new surroundings, wondering how he had gotten to this place. His attention was diverted however by the sight of a girl standing far out into the ocean. The girl had her back turned to Charlie Brown, but he could see that she had black hair and was wearing a blue dress.

Charlie Brown watched as the girl just stood staring out to sea, wondering... what more was out there, waiting for her? Charlie Brown's curiosity turned to horror when he saw a huge tidal wave form in the distance.

The black haired girl turned to face Charlie Brown. Her face was blank, she showed no fear for the disaster approaching her. With the same expressionless look on her face, the girl held out her hand to Charlie Brown, who rushed forward to help her. He didn't know what he could do, he was tempted to run from the enormous wave. But no, he just had to help her.

But by the time he had gotten anywhere close to the girl it was too late, the tidal wave had crashed down upon them both. Charlie Brown struggled against the currents, holding his breath so as not to drown. He saw the dark haired girl reach out her hand to him once more throught the water. Charlie Brown swam forward as hard as he could, determined to pull them both to safety. But a strong current was pushing him back, and Charlie Brown was swept away.

Knowing it was a hopeless effort Charlie Brown stopped struggling against the current and waited to drown. But he didn't, for the flow of the water suddenly shifted and he was sent up to the surface, a short way away from the beach. Charlie Brown coughed up some salt water stuck in his throat and, feeling miserable about being separated from his friend, turned to face the shore.

What he saw managed to raise his spirits a tad. Waving to him at the waters edge was a girl with mousy brown hair in a green shirt. She had a confident smile upon her freckled face, and she was happily motioning for him to join her. After that traumatic incident Charlie Brown felt it would do him good to be with a friend, so he gladly trudged through the water to join her. But when he did reach her he tripped up and landed face first into the water, splashing about in front of the girl like a fish in an undersized puddle.

The brown haired girl rolled her eyes, but still managed a playful chuckle at Charlie Brown's antics. But then her attention turned to the sky. Wondering why she looked so mystefied, Charlie Brown too looked to the sky. There was a meteor shower, a remarkrable and rare spectacle. But that did not interest Charlie Brown so much as the figure falling with them. Charlie Brown looked closely, and he almost fell back in shock. It was... no, it couldn't be. It was his own unconsious form, falling from the sky towards him.

Without warning Charlie Brown found himself falling backwards once more. He saw the girl look down upon him and reach out her hand, but then she and everything else around Charlie Brown vanished, and he was falling not into water, but darkness.

Feeling confused and disorientated about everything that was happening, Charlie Brown held his breath and held still as he fell. It was only after what felt like an eternity that he finally stopped falling and landed on what he first thought was solid ground, but what he then saw was glass.

Charlie Brown could not see anything through the darkness. For a moment he was caught between fear of the unknown, and curiosity about the mysterious location he had ended up. Cautiously, Charlie Brown risked one step forward, and was met with a blinding light and a hundred white doves taking flight around him. The light formed a large circle upon the ground, and when it subsided it was revealed that Charlie Brown was standing on a stained glass window showing the image of a sleeping girl with raven black hair, wearing a pink and white dress and a pink bow in her hair. There were also smaller circles painted around her, showing the faces of a boy with a triangular head and red hair, a boy with green hair and a somewhat rectangular head and nose, and several girls in orange girl scout outfits.

Charlie Brown stared curiously at the image below him. Just what was this place, and what was he doing here?

_"So much to do..."_ Came a mysterious voice. Charlie Brown jumped ten feet into the air.

"Um... h-hello?" Charlie Brown said meekly once he had landed. A quick look around told him there was no one here but himself. Where had that voice come from?

_"...So little time"_ The voice continued as though it had not heard Charlie Brown.

Charlie Brown was shiverring with nerves. Where was this voice coming from, and what was it talking about. And again, what was he doing here? He attempted to ask these questions to whoever was talking, but the voice spoke again before he could do it.

_"The door is still shut. Do you think you are ready?"_

"I... ready for what?" Charlie Brown asked. His answer came not from the voice, but in the form of three stone pedestals rising up from the ground around him.

_"Power sleeps within you..."_ The voice began, and Charlie Brown fell over when he saw a flash of light appear above one of the pedestals. When it subsided, a sword appeared, floating just above the pedestal.

"If you give it form..." The voice continue. There was a second flash atop another pedestal, where there appeared a long staff with an odd orb at the end shaped like a hedgehog's head (Sonic symbol).

"It will give you strength" The voice finished. Above the final pedestal there shone a third light, and a shield bearing the same symbol that was atop the staff appeared.

_"Choose wisely"_ The voice instructed.

Charlie Brown found himself wishing the voice had gone into more detail about what it wanted him to do. He could guess that it wanted him to choose between these weapons, but why? And what did it mean about power sleeping within him. He knew he wasn't powerful, he was relatively weak and he had no talents or skills. Seriously, what power could he posess? And what was he supposed to do with these objects. He wasn't a warrior, he had never even gotten into a fight (Though he had been beaten up a few times, he never fought back). Charlie Brown wasn't a violent person, so why was the voice asking him to pick a weapon.

"Excuse me, but, what's this all about?" Charlie Brown asked to the sky. He stood there for five minutes without receiving an answer. With a sigh and knowing he couldn't depend on the voice to return and direct him out of this strange place, Charlie Brown approached the pedestal with the sword.

He didn't know why he was going to examine the sword first, but for some reason it felt like the obvious choice. He had a feeling that the voice, wherever it was coming from, wanted him to fight someone. Charlie Brown shuddered at the thought. He knew a staff or a shield wouldn't do him much good in a duel... not that he was likely to win whatever his choice, if he really did have to fight someone he was likely to get killed. But the sword just seemed like the right decision...

_"The power of the Warrior_

_Invinsible courage_

_A sword of terrible destruction"_

Charlie Brown hesitated for a minute. Courage... he had never been brave before, and the way the voice had just described it, it sounded as though this sword would bring him courage. That sounded good. But destruction? Now he didn't like the sound of that at all. He gripped the swords handle and suddenly had a vision of himself sliceing many innocent people. With a scream of terror he leapt back and dropped the sword, which went back to hovering above the pedestal.

Ok, so maybe the sword wasn't for him. He didn't want to bring destruction, he would have to choose something else.

Deciding he didn't want to pick the shield since it looked like it would weigh a ton, Charlie Brown next approached the staff. He couldn't see how it would protect him in case of attack, but maybe the voice would explain that.

_"The power of the Mystic_

_Inner strength_

_Staff of wonder and ruin"_

_"Is this the path you choose?"_ The voice asked.

That wasn't really the best of descriptions, Charlie Brown still didn't have a clue what the staff did, or why he had to choose it. But he didn't want to be in possession of a destructive sword or a heavy shield, so eventually he said "I guess so"

The staff vanished from Charlie Brown's hand in a burst of light. Charlie Brown was a little disturbed by this occurance, but looked to the sky for the voice to continue.

_"Your path is set"_ The voice said firmly_ "But to choose this path you must surrender another"_

Surrender another? Charlie Brown was again confused, why was he being asked to do all this. Would he feel stronger if he did? Why would he need to give up the sword or the shield anyway? Feeling like the voice was just trying to confuse him, Charlie Brown began to walk to the swords pedestal before turning to the shield. Curious as to what this was meant to mean, Charlie Brown reached out to touch the shield and see what the voice had to say about it.

_"The power of the Guardian_

_Kindness to aid friends_

_A shield to repel all"_

Charlie Brown placed the shield down, surprised by how light it was despite it's bulky appearance. He was certainly not going to give up this path, he had few friends in his life, many people disliked him and only a few people bother to associate with him. and of course hecared deeply for each of those friends. If this shield represented loyalty towards his friends, he could never give it up. And thus, he surrendered the sword.

"You have chosen the path of the Mystic. You have given up the power of the Warrior. Is this the path you choose?" The voice asked seriously.

"Yes" Charlie Brown replied. Though as the sword disappeared from his hands forever, he really wished he had given it a bit more thought. What use was the staff anyway? If he were going to have to use it to defend himself, what good would it do him. A shield seemed more practical, it could easily defend him. Charlie Brown muttered a good grief, why didn't he think things through, why was he so... so...

Charlie Brown almost screamed, but he was too terrified. The pedestals had suddenly sank back into the ground, and the glass at one end of the platform he was standing upon was beginning to shatter. Fearing for his life Charlie Brown tried to run away in the other direction... only to realize it was of no use: the ground was shattering from that direction too. Charlie Brown struggled not to hyperventilate, he tried desparately to find a path to safety, but the ground around him was shattering fast. And the next thing he knew, Charlie Brown was falling, falling, falling into darkness.

Charlie Brown never knew how long he fell, all he knew was that it scared the heck out of him. He didn't like being surrounded by darkness, and he liked it even less when he was falling at a hundred miles and hour and couldn't see where he was falling too.

"Why do I always have such bad luck at everything. It's not funny, it's just sad" Charlie Brown lamented. Through the sea of darkness he saw a small light. At first Charlie Brown was hopeful... but then he saw that it was another round glass window, and he was falling right at it!

"Oh no! Oh no, no, no!" Charlie Brown screamed. This was it, at the speed he was falling he wasn't going to land on the platform, he was going to crash right through it, which would certainly kill him. Desparate and frightened, Charlie Brown attempted to flow himself down, but nothing worked. He was getting closer to the window, in just seconds he was going to die. Charlie Brown whimpered, there was so many things he would never get do. He would never win a baseball game with his team, he would never talk to the Little Red Haired Girl, and he would never kick Lucy's football.

Charlie Brown closed his eyes, too scared to look death in the eye. But when he was mere feet away from the glass platform, a mysterious force took hold of Charlie Brown, bringing him to a gentle stop and dropping him safely on his feet.

"Ok, not that that wasn't interesting, but I'd really like to go home now" Charlie Brown said dizzily. He took a moment to get his head around everything that had just happened before noticing the image on the window. Rather than the black haired girl, this window-like surface showed the image of a girl with yellow skin and an odd star fish hair style, wearing an orange dress and pearl necklace.

_"You've gained the power to fight!"_ The voice suddenly returned. Charlie Brown jumped in surprised, and the mysterious staff suddenly reappeared in his right hand _"Use this power to defend yourself and others from them"_

"From who?" Charlie Brown asked uncertainly.

Charlie Brown's attention was diverted by a small round shadow that had suddenly popped up on the ground. He gasped as the shadow suddenly began to rise out of the ground and formed into a strange little dark creature, with glowing yellow eyes, antenna and claws.

The shadow creature lashed out at Charlie Brown, who in panic swung the staff. The staff hit the shadow directly in the head, knocking it back a bit. Charlie Brown backed away slowly, but the shadow leaped at him again. Charlie Brown managed to smack it back three more times, the shadow only managing to leave a minor cut on his arm, and on the third wack it vanished in a puff of dark smoke.

"What was that?" Charlie Brown panted. He had never seen such a creepy creature in all his life, and it had just popped right out of the ground and attacked him. But... it was gone now. And Charlie Brown heaved a huge sigh of relief at that thought. The shadow was gone, and he could rest easy.

_"Look out!"_ The voice called. Charlie Brown turned around, only to be pushed to the ground by a hard headbutt from another shadow creature. And it wasn't alone, it had brought ten more of it's kind to gang up on Charlie Brown.

"Good grief" Charlie Brown groaned, smacking the first shadow away with the staff as it attempted to claw his eyes out.

Charlie Brown leaped to his feet, pointing his staff as threateningly as he could at the living shadows. Was that why he was here, was he supposed to fight these monsters? How was he supposed to do that? Sure, he'd just gotten lucky against that first shadow, but that was just plain dumb luck, he'd never survive against all these monsters. He wished he had Peppermint Patty or Lucy here with him, those girls were a lot stronger than him, they'd be able to fight off these shadows no problem.

Charlie Brown managed to stand his own for a little while. After he had destroyed one of their friends the shadows seemed a bit wary of him and his staff. Charlie Brown was able to keep them away from him for a few minutes, he'd even managed to swipe three of the shadows out of existence, but then one of the creatures snuck up behind him and tackled him to the ground, and they all ganged up on the boy.

His heart racing, Charlie Brown tried desparately to swat the shadows off him, but they had him pinned down and refused to let him go. Charlie Brown cried out in pain as the shadows clawed at him, through a great struggle however he managed to pull the arm with the staff free. Charlie Brown tried to swat the shadows off him with the staff, but then he saw that the hedgehog head ornament at the end of the staff had began to glow a mystic blue. Reacting on new found instincts, Charlie Brown struggled to ignore the pain the shadows were causing him and raised the staff into the air.

The shadows stopped trying to cut Charlie Brown up and stared in horror at the staff, which had just shot a light into the air. There was a sound like thunder, and then a dozen lightning bolts fell down from the sky and struck the shadows, reducing them to dust.

Charlie Brown blinked rapidly in surprise.

"Did I just do that?" The boy asked himself. He looked again at the staff, which was still glowing, and gave it a hug "Thank you" He decided to take the staff's red glow to mean he was welcome.

Still amazed that he had defeated a whole swarm of shadowed monsters, Charlie Brown got to his feet and waited for the voice to return. He figured that if he had any chance of getting out of this place, he should go along with what the voice was telling him.

But the voice didn't return. Instead, another shadow creature appeared from the ground. Though he was still scared and very cautious, after taking out that last batch of shadows, Charlie Brown actually felt he could fight back, that he could win._ Win_. That sounded almost foreign to Charlie Brown, but it was just one little shadow, and he had a staff that fired lightning bolts, so he was actually feeling quite confident.

The shadow however made no attempt to attack Charlie Brown, rather it merely sank back into the ground. Charlie Brown wondered for a moment if it was retreating, but then the shadow on the ground began to spread. And before he knew it, darkness was slowly engulfing the platform Charlie Brown was standing on. Charlie Brown panicked, and in doing so he ended up stepping backwards and getting his foot caught in a pothole of darkness. Charlie Brown struggled to get up, but the darkness was spreading fast and had soon engulfed him.

Charlie Brown lost consciousness for a moment after the darkness had swallowed him. When he awoke he found that he was no longer on the glass platform. He was lying on grass, a blue sky hanging above him. A great feeling of relief sweeping over him, Charlie Brown stood up and saw that he was standing in the park near his home, from where he stood he could see the Wall, the Kite Eating Tree and the baseball field in the distance.

"Thank goodness that's over" Charlie Brown sighed. He hadn't the slightest clue what had just happened, perhaps that whole experience was a dream, and he had just woken up. Yeah, that had to be it. Boy, did that dream feel real though. He hoped he never had it again, it was a disturbing experience.

Charlie Brown took a moment to admire the sights and sounds of his familiar surroundings, then he noticed he wasn't alone. His old friend Schroeder, his best friend Linus and even his little sister Sally were there with him. Charlie Brown smiled, glad to see some friendly faces.

"Hi guys. You wouldn't believe the dream I just-" Charlie Brown began cheerfully, but Sally cut across him.

"What's most important to you?" Sally asked. Charlie Brown stared oddly at her, he was taken aback by the odd question.

"Um... excuse me Sally?" Charlie Brown said uncertainly.

"What's most important to you" Sally repeated in a monotone voice that was very different to her usual cheerful tone.

"Um... my friends, I guess" Charlie Brown replied, raising a curious brow at his sister.

"Friends... is friendship such a big deal?" Sally wondered aloud, still in monotone. Charlie Brown stared at her with a concerned look.

"Are you feeling alright Sally?" Charlie Brown asked his sister.

"What do you want out of life?" Linus piped up. Charlie Brown threw him the same odd look he had given Sally.

"I... well, I don't know. To kick the football?" Charlie Brown said, not really sure what he would like out of life, and confused about his friends's questions.

"To kick the football, huh?" Linus said thoughtfully.

Charlie Brown was starting to feel distressed, why were Sally and Linus asking him such odd questions. They knew him well enough, didn't they? And why were they both speaking in that strange monotone?

"Schroeder, what's wrong with Sally and Linus?" Charlie Brown asked. But alas:

"What are you most afraid of?" Schroeder questioned in monotone. Charlie Brown sighed in exhasperation.

"That I'll never accomplish anything and that even my friends will grow to hate me, or at least more than they do now" Charlie Brown replied, then starting to get irritated he asked "Now could one of you tell me why you're all asking me questions?"

Nobody answered him, they all just stared blankly into space. Charlie Brown sighed dejectedly. Then, spotting his dog Snoopy he sarcastically asked "I don't suppose you have anything to say, do you?"

"Afraid not buddy" Snoopy replied in perfect English. Charlie Brown's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates and he screamed in terror, falling flat on his back.

And if Snoopy talking wasn't creepy enough, when he next looked to his friends and younger sister they all vanished into thin air.

"Ok, either that wasn't a dream, or I'm still in it" Charlie Brown groaned. He had been really looking forward to just going home and having a quiet, do nothing day. Charlie Brown stared up at the sky, waiting for the voice to return.

_"You want friendship, you want to kick the football, you're afraid of failing and losing your friends"_ The voice listed Charlie Brown's decisions _"Your adventure begins at midday. Keep a steady path and you'll come through"_

"Ok then. But I'd still like to know what this is all about" Charlie Brown said pleadingly. But of course, the voice ignored him completely.

_"The day you will open the door is both far off and very near"_

Charlie Brown continued to stare at the sky, that last statement made no sense whatsoever. Charlie Brown turned his gaze downwards and looked in the direction of the sun. It's position in the sky suggested it was...

"Midday" Charlie Brown sighed as a blinding light surrounded him. When it subsided he found himself on yet another platform. Charlie Brown shook his head, when would this all end?

With nothing else to do until the voice spoke again, Charlie Brown decided to examine the image on this window. But something was off about this one. The girl pictured on this window was a purple cat with a red jewel embedded in her forehead. She wore a purple coat and white trousers. But her imagine was not what concerned Charlie brown, it was the fact that it was surrounded by images of lava and purple crystal spikes. It looked like she was standing... and sleeping, in a dystopian world.

_"You might want to look up"_ The voice forewarned. Charlie Brown tore his eyes from the image on the floor to see the troup of shadows getting ready to pounce on him.

"I knew it" Charlie Brown grumbled, thankful when the staff reappeared in his hands.

There were twelve shadows standing before him, normally Charlie Brown would have been scared out of his wits. But then he remembered, his staff was magic. So as the shadows crept closer to him, Charlie Brown simply held the staff high into the air and waited for the lightning to strike... yep... any minute now... any minute lightning should strike... any... minute...

Charlie Brown brought his staff down for closer examination. The glow that had previously emmitted from the end of the staff had subsided. Noticing the shadows were all sharpening their claws Charlie Brown panicked. He shook the staff around, willing, praying for it to start glowing. It didn't, it was dull as a burnt out lightbulb.

"Uh..." Charlie Brown mumbled as the shadows prepared to pounce "Is there any chance we can settle this without violence?"

The leader of the shadow troop gave a swift headbutt to Charlie Brown's stomach, knocking him off his feet.

"Yeah, no chance" Charlie Brown sighed miserably. Charlie Brown reached for his staff and managed just in time to swat the shadow away, he finished it off with a hard blow to the head. It's eleven friends weren't happy.

Charlie Brown wished he could have just stayed on his island. The shadows attacked in a group, their numbers overwhelmed the near-blond boy easily. Charlie Brown leaped back and swatted at the shadows as much as he could, but they just kept coming. They slashed their claws at him, launched their bodies in a full head butt and tried a range of dirty tricks to knock Charlie Brown out. After a great deal of swatting and having received a whole arm full of cuts that would probably go on to become scars, Charlie Brown had managed to reduce the shadows numbers to eight.

That wasn't so bad, Charlie Brown tried to reassure himself. If he kept this up, he'd win in no time. He would be fine, he would... Charlie Brown nearly lost his balance and stepped off the edge of the platform. He gulped, realizing the shadows had cornered him at the edge of the platform, now if the managed to land one attack on him he'd plummet off the edge in darkness. This was bad, this was very, very bad.

The new self elected leader of the shadow brigade stood back and took a running jump at Charlie Brown. The round headed boy shuddered, praying for a miracle. And what do you know it, the staff started to glow again. With no time to summon lightning, Charlie Brown took another swing at the shadow, and an enormous ball of flames erupted from the staff, incinerating the shadow and five others in the way.

The two remaining shadows whimpered like terrified poodles, backing away slowly. Charlie Brown actually thought they sounded kind of cute that way... any such sentiments were lost when they pounced at him. Charlie Brown barrel rolled through the opening left by the defeared shadows, causing the last two shadows to jump right off the edge of the platform. For a second they just hovered above the endless abyss below. The two shadows exchanged frightened glances and hugged one another as they fell away into nothingness.

"Well... that's that" Charlie Brown said pleasantly. He had no idea where it came from, he was just so relieved he was alive, and so happy it-

"_It's not over"_ The voice cut across Charlie Brown's thoughts. The boy face palmed.

A set of stairs suddenly appeared at the other side of the platform, leading upwards into the darkness. Hoping this dream, or fantasy or whatever it was, was nearly over, Charlie Brown held his bleeding arm and trudged up the stairs. And guess where they led him, another stone platform. The women displayed on this window had brown hair and blue eyes, and was fast asleep. But Charlie Brown hardly payed any attention to her image, it was the figure standing behind her that really stood out. A gigantic, muscular green humanoid wearing nothing but blue jeans, who looked VERY angry.

Charlie Brown's attention quickly shifted to the beam of light shining down upon the centre of the platform. With a relaxed smile, Charlie Brown stepped forward and basked in the light. He felt far more comfortable surrounded by light than darkness. But he would now find he wasn't even safe there.

_"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes"_ Warned the voice.

Charlie Brown turned around to find that his shadow had indeed grown in the light, it had grown so large it reached the other side of the platform.

"But don't be afraid" The voice said gently. Charlie Brown wondered what there was to be afraid of... stupid question, now his shadow was rising out from the ground. Charlie Brown watches in horror as his shadow continued to grow until it reached tremendous size. And it didn't stop there, the shadow also developed several tentacles around it's face and had a heart shaped hole in it's chest. Oh yeah, now Charlie Brown was afraid.

"And don't forget..." But the voice never finished those last words of wisdom.

"This just isn't my day" Charlie Brown moaned.

The giant shadow monster roared at Charlie Brown, bashing it's fists together to show it was ready to fight. Trembling from head to toe, Charlie Brown tried to back away to the steps. But they were gone, now he was trapped here on the platform with that... that thing.

Resigning to his fate, Charlie Brown readied the staff. With a disappointed sigh that it had not started glowing, Charlie Brown instead charged at the monster. The shadow giant reacted by pulling back one of it's huge fists and aiming a punch at Charlie Brown. Charlie Brown managed to dodge it, but this had been the giants intention. Now there was a purple vortex forming around it's hand, from which three of the smaller shadows emerged.

The giant pulled it's hand back and allowed it's underlings to swipe at Charlie Brown. They were a much easier opponent to beat, all it took was three hits each and the smaller shadows vanished into thin air. Charlie Brown smiled at his minor accomplishment... and was promptly kicked from behind by the giant. Charlie Brown was sent flying so far back that when he landed he still very nearly slipped off the edge of the platform.

Panting heavily, Charlie Brown climbed back up onto solid glass and stood tall. He noticed the giant shadow was now kneeling down. For a moment he toyed with the hope the monster was giving up... but no, it was gathering dark energy up in the hole through it's chest and launching several orbs of dark energy at the boy.

Not sure what else to do, Charlie Brown did what any smart person would have done when faced with magical orbs of darkness that were flying forward to hit him... he ran for it. Charlie Brown ran around the platform, but there was no escape, the dark orbs followed him relentlessly, and they were closing in. Charlie Brown grimaced, he was doomed, he was so... wait, the staff, it was glowing again. In a desparate move, Charlie Brown skidded to a halt and allowed the dark orbs to catch up to him. A split second before they could pelt him however, Charlie Brown held the staff forward and allowed it to work it's magic. This time in place of a lightning bolt or fireball, the staff summoned a shield which reflected the orbs and sent them flying back at the shadow's head.

The force of the impact caused the shadow to fall back a few step and then collapse on it's knees. Senseing his best chance of victory, Charlie Brown managed to put aside his fears and charge up to the creature, where he began pounding it's head with the magic staff. Though Charlie Brown couldn't swing very hard, the giant's whimpering suggested his attacks were causing it a surprising amount of pain.

Eventually the shadow recovered from it's initial shock and swatted Charlie Brown away. The shadow stood up again and, gathering dark purple energy around it's left fist, plunged it's hand once more into the ground.

But Charlie Brown was ready for it this time. With only a small moment of hesitation, Charlie Brown mercilessly struck the giants hand with his staff, and before a single miny shadow could pop up the giant was forced to retract it's hand.

Charlie Brown was panting once more, but not from exhaustion, but rather, excitement. He couldn't believe it, here he was, the supposed world's biggest loser, a known blockhead and failure face, actually battling and even BEATING a giant shadow monster. No doubt now, this was certainly a dream. But any dream where Charlie Brown could defeat a shadow monster was a pretty darn good dream in his opinion.

Noticing the exhausted look on the shadow's face and the fact that his staff was glowing again, Charlie Brown grinned. He held the staff forward, willing lightning to strike the shadow. But instead, his staff merely vanished into thin air.

Charlie Brown was so shocked by this occurance that he ended up falling backwards, and has his luck would have it, he landed right in a pool of darkness. Screaming in terror Charlie Brown struggled to get free, but the darkness had a hold on him, and it was pulling him back. So much for a dream, this was a plain old nightmare.

The titan shadow seemed to grin as Charlie Brown sank further into the darkness. And he realized, it was over. There was nothing he could do. He was going to die.

_"But don't be afraid..."_ The voice returned. Easy for it to say, Charlie Brown thought _"You hold the mightiest weapon of all..."_

_"So don't ever forget"_ The voice commanded, and as the darkness prepared to fully engulf Charlie Brown, the voice gave it's final words of wisdom:

_"You are the one... who will open the door"_

And it was over, Charlie Brown was swallowed up by darkness.

* * *

Returning to the depths of space, the Inner Circle were still gathered around. The circle of light still glowed around them, but to a much less extreme degree than when the Awakening had begun. The guardians of worlds made no sound or movement, they stood still as statues as their eyes glowed the same bright yellow as the normally translucent ground beneath them. Vaklenhayn watched them from the edge of the platform, along with Rachel's familiars, Tikal's chao and the yellow bird that accompanied the Great Pumpkin. Though the elderly vampire remained calm and assured, the smaller critters were becoming anxious by how long their masters were standing around for. None were quite sure what was happening here, having never attended a meeting of the Inner Circle before, so they had no idea what to expect.

But they would not be left to worry for long. Within the next few minutes the light on the floor began to subside before the circle vanished entirely. Then one by one the lights started going out in the eyes of the Circle members, beginning with Arceus and ending with Tikal. For a moment they all looked thoughtful, musing over the events that they had just witnessed.

"Why did you take away their weapons? What purpose did it serve to make them fail when they were each so close to victory?" Tikal suddenly asked, Arceus looked down to her.

"Because they were never meant to succeed" Arceus replied simply, and sensing the need to elaborate he continued "The purpose of the awakening is to test a candidate's determination to succeed, and how they go about it. The Awakening ceremony tests a persons convictions, their personal qualities, and whether they can remain on the path of light throughout. Whether Charlie Brown or Lucy defeated the darkside at the end of the challenge did not matter in the slightest, if they had proven unworphy at any point during the awakening. In fact, to have them lose that battle is a further test, a test of courage, to see if in the future they would continue to face the heartless despite the outcome of their last supposed encounter. What we should consider is that they both made it to the end of the Awakening, and they both would have most surely succeeded if not for our intervention. And now, now we must make our decision based on their performances"

"Right. And I think we're all agreed on who should get the keyblade now" Rachel said confidently. The entire Inner Circle nodded as they voiced their opinions unanimously.

"Charlie Brown" Most of them said, while Rachel instead said "Lucy"

They all blinked and looked at Rachel, who at first just stared back uncertainly before her expression changed to a frown.

"Wait, what?" The clan leader was confused.

"I thought you meant Charlie Brown. I mean, I thought he gave the better performance" The Great Pumpkin was the first to reply.

"What are you kidding? Lucy finished the Awakening a full five minutes before that blockhead, and she did it with minimal fear, whereas Charlie Brown was a coward most of the way through it!" Rachel said hotly. A few of the other members looked uncertain.

"Well, I suppose that is true. But we should not be concerned only with their bravery in the situation" Polokus began to reason "After all, Charlie Brown answered our questions well"

"His choices were pretty sincere" Doctor Strange nodded "The thing he valued most is friendship, a most selfless and honest thing to cherish. All he wanted out of life was to kick a football our other candidate keeps pulling away from him. He could have said he wanted money or fame, but no, rather than dreams of greed and desire he only wants to accomplish something simple. If nothing else, that at least shows he's innocent, even if he seems to lack high expectations of himself. He does fear failure, I suppose that's natural of any child his age"

"In comparison, Lucy most valued her own cunning, what she wanted out of life was to get her own way all the time, and her fear was that the boy she fancies, and annoys to no end, would never return her feelings. While the last one's debatable, the majority of her choices were selfish and vain, both qualities that lean towards the darkness" Ophanimon continued.

"I must agree, while not truly a terrible person at her core, Lucy does seem the much more likely to fall to the dark side if things went the wrong way" Oogway nodded solemnly. Rachel only huffed.

"I'm not seeing it. So she wants things her own way, who doesn't? She's a young girl, you said it yourself Pumpkin, children are innocent. Maybe she seems a little full of herself, but have any of you ever heard of a learning experience? That's what this could be like to her. If she doesn't appear to be the ideal candidate, then we'll just have to make her into it" Rachel defended. The majority did not seem convinced.

"But can we really take the chance. Especially when Charlie Brown is the clearly more reliable candidate?" Aku Aku offered. Most of the group nodded in agreement, but Rachel shook her head instead.

"You're still missing a crucial point. Sure, I'll admit Charlie Brown is the nicer, closer to pure candidate. But ultimately, what we need is a warrior. We need someone who can use the keyblade to it's full potential in battle, without fear. That matters as much as personal honour. Yes, Charlie Brown finished the Awakening, but he relied too much on the magic of the staff rather than skill or strength, inner or physical. Lucy chose the power of the warrior, and fought her way through all the heartless simply with swordsmanship, with only the slightest hint of fear at the start. And let's face it, neither of them looks like they'll be able to use much magic in reality, unless they're proven to have an actual affinity for it, which is rare even among keyblade masters, they'll have to rely simply on the keyblade to fight the heartless. And we don't have a month to train Charlie Brown in sword fighting, the darkness is encroaching on our realm too quickly. Think about it, what good is having a hero with a pure heart if they don't know how to fight?"

That one did seem to get everyone thinking.

"I... had not thought of that" Ophanimon admitted.

"I suppose it makes sense. A keyblade master must be strong and able in battle, and Charlie Brown doesn't seem quite up to that point yet" Aku Aku solemnly confessed.

"And Lucy is? She doesn't exactly have any prior sword training either" Doctor Strange pointed out, still a bit more defiant.

"No, but she does have more courage, and she fought better than Charlie Brown. We have to consider that" Said Polokus. The Great Pumpkin's carved face started to droop into a nervous frown.

"Yes, but-but I'm certain Charlie Brown would learn quickly" The Pumpkin tried to interject before the tide of opinions could turn.

"Oh yeah, like he learns to _not _fall for that stupid football trick, or how he learns to successfully pitch a baseball" Rachel replied with disdain "Yeah, I'm _so sure_ he'll do better at this than he does at everything else in life. Come on people, consider the possibility that he doesn't learn, that no matter how much help we give him Charlie Brown's sole talent for screwing things up kicks in and he botches up the whole mission. What happens then?"

An uncomfortable silence followed Rachel's latest speech. Unable to think of a good comeback, no one dared say anything in reply. Instead they all just stood there, reasoning things out in their heads, trying hard to decide what was the right course of action.

The silence lasted for ten minutes. And then Arceus broke it with a heavy sigh.

"It appears we are once again at a standstill" The Original One summarised. Everyone shuffled their feet nervously, with the obvious exception of Aku Aku.

"I still maintain the belief that Charlie Brown is the better candidate... but is he the better fighter?" Doctor Strange said thoughtfully.

"I hate to admit it, but he really doesn't seem the hero type" Tikal said, already feeling remorseful about speaking it.

"Power is useless unless one knows how to use it, it is one's own convictions that determine success. In that way the weakest man alive can also be the strongest" Oogway said with all his sagely wisdom.

"Who said that?" Rachel asked.

"Tai Chi the scrawny, as he fought against Shan the giant... who immediately squashed him" Oogway answered nervously. That didn't exactly fill the Circle members with confidence.

"So now what do we do?" Aku Aku asked, exhasperated.

While the Inner Circle members began arguing like a pack of rabid dogs over a favoured chew toy, Arceus calmly hummed to himself, mulling it over quietly. A light lit up in his eyes as inspiration struck him, and he let out an ear piercing roar that shut everyone up. The members of the Circle covered their aching ears and looked up at Arceus, who explained his plan.

"Since it is clear to me that we are all never going to come to an agreement sometime this century, I have decided on a different route for how our key bearer should be chosen" Arceus spoke. The others looked at him with curiosity and motioned for him to continue "We are going to let the keyblade decide for itself who it wishes to wield it"

That suggestion befuddled the rest of them.

"Excuse me, how-" Tikal began.

"We will send our keyblade forth to the two of them, and the keyblade will decide on it's own which of the two should carry it. If it chooses Charlie Brown, he shall be our champion. And if he fails, we shall still have Lucy and her own keyblade to fall back on. If our keyblade chooses Lucy however, her own keyblade will materialise to take it's place and shove ours away, returning it to us. So that way we will still have the one keyblade left over to give to Charlie Brown in the event things go south with Lucy. Either way, we will have our champion to battle the darkness, and a contingency plan in the unchosen master" Arceus explained, to the first moment of universal approval among the Inner Circle.

"I think that's a good idea" Polokus said eagerly.

"It sure would be easier than trying to decide amongst ourselves, its not like we've ever all been in agreement on anything" Ophanimon agreed.

"I think it seems a little unfair to whoever doesn't get chosen... but it does sound like the best course of action" Tikal nodded

"I suppose" The Great Pumpkin said, just hoping the keyblade chose Charlie Brown and not Lucy.

Everyone looked at Rachel with anticipation, and the vampire girl shrugged "Sure, sounds like a plan"

"Perfect" Arceus said, relieved that everyone was in agreement for once "In that case, I'll have the keyblade sent to them as soon as possible. In the meantime, I suggest the rest of you return to your worlds, the morning approaches. We have much work ahead of us, getting everything ready for the oncoming storm"

With ominous nods to that last statement, the Inner Circle members gathered themselves up and prepared to leave.

"Well, I'm glad that didn't take as long as the last three meetings" Rachel said to Tikal as they began to walk away "Need help getting home?"

"No thank you, I can manage" Tikal replied, before suddenly changing into a pink ball of light and floating off the edge of the platform, followed after by her chao.

"Forgot she could do that" Rachel commented as she regained Vaklenhayn and her two magical familiars.

"I sure hope this plan works. Heaven knows we can't afford a repeat of what happened a decade ago" Polokus said as he and Oogway prepared to depart.

"Do not fret my old friend. I am confident that, whoever is chosen, it will be for the best. We must always have faith" Oogway said kindly.

"I suppose. I just wish I wasn't asleep so I could do more to help" The amphibious deity said wistfully.

"You're more help than you think you are, my friend. I shall see you soon" Oogway said as he held his staff in both hands. A sudden wind picked up and Oogway was inexplicably surrounded by pink flower petals. The petals obscured the turtle from view, and when they eventually blew away, Oogway was gone. Polokus mused over his friends graceful methods of transport before fading away.

"I still think everyone should have given Crash a better chance, but I'm satisfied with the outcome of our discussion" Aku Aku told Doctor Strange and the Great Pumpkin.

"I honestly wonder if I should have put forth more candidates from my world. Virtually everyone on my earth is a season super hero, more than capable of dealing with our enemies" Doctor Strange mused.

"Aw, but that would have been redundant. Everyone sees plenty of super heroes, there's a new super movie out every other week. It's nice to give the little guys a chance now and again" The Great Pumpkin reasoned. Strange shrugged.

"I suppose. And I'm still wondering when they're going to give me a movie, I'd say I'm long overdue for one" Doctor Strange said. Aku Aku and the Pumpkin made shrugging motions.

"By the way Doctor, do you think you could give me a ride home? I'm afraid I've forgotten the way back" The Great Pumpkin asked bashfully. Doctor Strange chuckled softly.

"Of course my friend. Just try not to roll over me this time" Doctor Strange said as he held onto one of the Great Pumpkin's tendrils. The Doctor uttered a spell, and they both disappeared in a puff of smoke. The yellow bird suddenly ran up to the spot where they had been and began squacking urgently, jumping up and down in a panic. It soon vanished in it's own puff of smoke, probably Strange realising he'd been left behind. Aku Aku admired the Sorceror's magic for a second before vanishing in a green light.

As the other members of the Inner Circle departed the platform, Arceus and Ophanimon remained in place, watching them off. When at last they were alone, the angelic digimon looked up at his leader.

"I can't lie to you Arceus, I have my doubts about this whole plan, I just didn't want to say it in front of the others. I won't argue with your wisdom, but I must ask, are you absolutely sure you want to go through with this, with those two?" Ophanimon asked seriously. Arceus nodded plainly.

"I am most certain my friend. Trust me, I know what I'm doing"

"Yes, but... last time, when we... I'm just worried. We both know there's more going on here than just a spike in the darkness, or even _his_ possible return. There are forces at work the likes of which we have never dealt with before, lurking in the shadows, and even beyond the point of existence. Whoever it is tampering with the balance of the universe, it goes beyond even what we know of it. Do you really think it's wise to bring in a new keyblade master?" Ophanimon asked direly. Arceus looked him over with piercing eyes.

"Would I have suggested it if I didn't?" Arceus asked. Ophanimon could not argue with that. Instead he bowed and bent the knee.

"I hope this works" Ophanimon said quietly.

"It will. Like Oogway said, have faith" Arceus said softly. Ophanimon looked up at Arceus and nodded, before flying upwards, disappearing in his own flash of light. Now Arceus stood alone on the platform. The Alpha pokemon looked upwards, then down at the swirling vortex beneath the platform, and then closed his eyes.

"Now if only I could..."

* * *

**Authors Notes:**

**Watanuki-Kun: Extra points for those who figured out who are the princesses! I hope you enjoyed this chapter well cause both me and Tiger (Mostly Tiger worked his ass figuring out what to do with the final scence) worked hard to brought this chapter to life.**

**The next one will be a very nice one so keep your eyes peeled for any news and changes coming on my profile~**

**See ya next time dudes!**


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